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Posts Tagged ‘horse’

602 words = <3 min. reading time
Reason for reading: to learn how our company started and learn how important your vision is to us

One question I’m often asked, especially once people realise how long we’ve been in business (…and especially once they learn that my Web skills were self-taught) is, “How did you ever get started in this business?”

The story is interesting enough that my (at this time) twenty-something son stated that it’s such an interesting story that it should be on our site. (Okay, anyone with young adult children knows that they don’t ‘compliment’ openly, …it must be truly impressive, so here goes!)

In the early 1980s, my husband and I moved to a ‘remote’ area to raise our family; an area that: had shared phone lines (often referred to as ‘party lines’), was a long-distance call to anywhere (except your neighbours’ ) …am I beginning to sound prehistoric yet?… and, of course, there was no public Internet yet as most people didn’t even know it existed. I felt totally out of touch with the one thing I was very passionate about – horses.

I would call long-distance to the nearest tack shop in Edmonton and ask if anyone had posted any horse events on their bulletin board (cork-type, on the wall, not electronic!) Those days I often wished there was one phone number people could ring up and find out about everything happening with horses. Of course there wasn’t, but I kept that thought in mind.

Fast-forward to 1995, my current job had disappeared and I needed to find another that would work well for my circumstances (i.e. far to travel, young kids to care for); everyone was yappin’ about the Internet. All I knew about ‘the Internet’ was that it had something to do with computers and I didn’t care for computers at all! Unfortunately, that word ‘Internet’ seemed to come up around our house over and over again.

During the summer of ’95 we went on vacation. Sister-in-law says …blah, blah, blah Internet… Internet!? There was that word again and, this time, from someone outside our house. Hmmm…. ‘What the heck is the Internet?’ says I. Upon hearing what the Internet was I suddenly realized that this was my vision, my ‘one number to call’ for everything happening with horses!

Because of my passion for horses and things equine, I learned how to turn on a computer and, through reading and learning on-line, how to develop Web pages (…yes, it WAS a very steep learning curve!) ; I eventually started Alberta Equine …On-Line, an on-line ‘magazine’ which has grown to the Canada Equine …On-Line network of sites. Shortly thereafter, I founded Pondside Web Productions and the Pondside story continues.

What does this mean to you and why should you care? If you have a vision for something you’re passionate about, keep it in mind and, even if it isn’t the right time for it, eventually it may be!

You can see that we have the tenacity to get things done. I’m passionate about more than just horses! Along with my team I’m passionate about Web and Internet solutions and love learning about other businesses too! Did you know, if you share your vision with us, there may be a Web or Internet solution to help achieve it?